Rug cleaning machine



July?, 1970 J. D. HEILMAN RUG CLEANING MACHINE Filed July 24, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .\7 VEXTOR N Jah/7 Hei/man BMMW July 7, 1970 J. D. HEILMAN 3,518,710

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United Patent O 3,518,710 RUG CLEANING MACHINE .lohn D. Heilman, Independence, Mo., assignor to Mattron, Inc., Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed July 24, 1968, Ser. No. 747,229 Int. Cl. A471 11/00 U.S. Cl. 15-'-5 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rug cleaning machine comprising means lwhereby a rug, in an inverted position, with its nap down, is first beaten from its back side to dislodge and loosen dirt, then presoaked and rinsed in a detergent or other cleaning solution, then pressed between wringer rolls to further remove coarse dirt, then scrubbed with a detergent or other cleaning solution, rinsed and passed between a inal set of wringer rollers. The processing of the rug in an inverted position has the advantage of facilitating the removal and disposition of dirt and grit which, once loosened by the beating and scrubbing steps of the process, would tend to settle back into and be trapped by the rug nap if the rug were treated in an upright position.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in rug cleaning machines, and has as its principal object the provision of a rug cleaning machine in which a napped rug is treated in an inverted position, with its nap side down, being subjected to steps of beating from above and scrubbing and rinsing from below, to the end that dirt land grit loosened and dislodged from the nap by these steps will tend to fall away therefrom by gravity, rather than tending to settle back into the nap following these steps, as is frequently the case in rug cleaning machines in which rugs are processed in their usual upright position. The present machine has been developed primarily for cleaning rugs having nap ibers bonded in a vinyl or other plastic or synthetic backing, but it will be readily apparent that the machine has applicability generally to napped rugs of any type.

Another object is the provision of a rug cleaning machine of the character described -which processes each rug completely automatically and without attention from the operator, once said rug has been inserted into the machine.

A further object is the provision of a rug cleaning machine of the character described in which the cleaning solution used may, if desired, be reclaimed, ltered or otherwise cleansed of dirt and grit removed from rugs, and recycled for repeated use.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, efficiency and dependability of operation, and adaptability for cleaning pliable sheet articles other than rugs.

My invention may be summarized as a machine into which a napped rug may be introduced with its nap side down and having means for propelling said rug generally horizontally therethrough, and having means therein whereby said rug is rst beaten from above, then subjected to a power rinse and presoaking from below with a detergent solution, then passed lbetween wringer-drive rollers to remove coarser dirt therefrom, then scrubbed from below with detergent solution by a power driven brush, then subjected to a power rinse from below with clean water, and finally passed between a second set of wringer-drive rollers.

.With these objects in View, as Well as other objects which will appear in the course of the specification, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. l is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional 3,518,710 Patented July 7, 1970 Y ice view of a rug cleaning machine embodying the present invention, showing a rug passing operatively therethrough.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, foreshortened sectional view taken on line II-II of FIG. l, with parts broken away, and with the rug omitted,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line III-III of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line IVIV of FIG. l, and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line V-V of FIG. l.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the several views, and the numerals 2 and 4 apply respectively to a pair of parallel vertical side walls forming, in conjunction `with various elements interconnecting them, the frame of the machine, and between which the operative elements of said machine are mounted. A rug 6, having a backing 8 and nap 10, is introduced between said sidewalls, in a horizontal position with its nap side down, at the right end of the machine as viewed in FIG. 1, and advances in the direction of arrow 12. The spacing between side walls 2 and 4 is of course whatever may be necessary to accommodate the width of the rugs to be cleaned. At the entry end of the machine, rug 6 is supported on a series of horizontal entry rollers 14 extending transversely of the machine and journalled at their ends for free rotation in side walls 2 and 4. Immediately after passing over rollers 14, the rug engages and is supported by a series of horizontal rods 16 which extend longitudinally of the machine in regularly spaced apart relation between the side walls. Said rods are alilxed at their rearward ends to a cross bar 18 extending transversely between and aixed at its ends to side -walls 2 and 4- and are aixed intermediate their ends to an angle iron 20 also extending transversely between and aiiixed at its ends to side walls 2 and 4.

Immediately above rod 16, a beater drum 22 extends horizontally and transversely between side walls 2 and 4, said drum including a rigid hub 24 affixed coaxially on a shaft 26, and having a multiplicity of pliable iiails 28 affixed at their inner ends to said hub and extending outwardly therefrom. Said liails may be formed of rubber, leather or other suitable material, and are of such length that at the lower portion of their orbits, they engage and beat the backing 8 of the rug as it passes therebeneath, when said beater drum is rotated. Shaft 26 is journalled, and driven to rotate said drub in the direction of arrow 30 in FIG. l, by means not shown but well understood in the art. Said beater drum is provided with a cover 31, said cover being hinged at 33 to a cross bar 34 extending Ibetween side walls 2-4 to provide access to said drums. Immediately beneath the beater drum, and also beneath rods 16, a dust bin 32 is disposed between side walls 2 and 4 to catch the grit, dirt and dust dislodged from the rug by the beater drum. This immediate removal and segregation of the coarser grit and dirt greatly reduces contamination of the soaking, scubbing and rinsing solutions used later in the cleaning process.

Immediately forwardly of dust bin 32, in the direction of rug travel, a pipe 36 extends horizontally and transversely beneath rods 16. A detergent or other cleaning solution is supplied under pressure to said pipe by a pump or other suitable means, not shown but well understood in the art, and said pipe is fitted at spaced intervals with a series of nozzles 38 adapted to direct jets of said solution upwardly between rods 16 against the nap side 10 of the rug as it passes over said rods, whereby both to dislodge and rinse away more of the grit and dirt loosened by the beater drum, and also to pre-soak the nap thoroughly. Just above nozzles 38, and also above the portion of the rug resting on rods 16, a horizontal plate 40 extends transversely between and is aflixed to side walls 2 and 4, in order to prevent escape of the jets from nozzles 38 at any time a rug is not disposed directly thereover. Forwardly of jets 38, the rug next passes between a pair of over-and-under wringer-drive rollers 42 and 44, rods 16 terminating just short of the entry side of said rollers. Said wringer-drive rollers are horizontal, extend transversely between side walls 2 and 4, and may be provided with compressible facings 46 of rubbber or the like. Each roller is mounted coaxially on a shaft 48, and it will be understood that said shafts are journalled and driven by any suitable means, not shown but well understood in the art, whereby to turn in the direction of arrows 50 in FIG. l. At least one of said rollers is directly driven, and the rollers are urged resiliently toward each other to apply pressure to the rug therebetween. Said rollers thereby not only wring moisture from the rug applied thereto by nozzles 38, but also pull the rug to drive it through the machine.

The spacing between nozzles 38 and wringer-drive rollers 4244, longitudinally of the machine, may be as great as necessary to allow the desired presoaking of the rug by the moisture from nozzles 38. As each rug is fed into the machine, it must be advanced manually until its leading edge enters between rollers 42-44, but from that time on the rug travel is powered by rollers 42-44, and by the final wringer-drive rollers yet to be described. A water detergent reservoir 52 is disposed beneath pipe 36 and rollers 42-44, so as to receive therein cleaning solution draining directly from the rug after it is received thereon from nozzles 38, and the moisture wrung therefrom by rollers 42-44 after the pre-soaking. The jets from nozzles serve not only to pre-soak the rug, but also directly to rinse therefrom dirt loosened by the beater drum but still adhering thereto. The pre-soaking of course releases still further dirt, and this tends to be removed by the wringing action of rollers 4244. Liquid gathering in reservoir 52 is maintained at an elevated level 54 therein by an overflow pipe 56. Thus much of the dirt, therein is allowed to settle by gravity into the bottom of the reservoir from which it can be removed at intervals, so that liquid overflowing into pipe 56 will be relatively clean, and can be re-used if desired with relatively little filtration or other cleaning.

After passing between rollers 42-44, rug 6 passes over a support plate 58 affixed to a cross bar 60 extending transversely between and aflixed at its ends to side plates 2 and 4, and then over a generally cylindrical scrubber drum 62 mounted on a shaft 64 extending horizontally and transversely between side plates 2 and 4 below the level of the rug. Said drum includes a hub 66 coaxial with shaft 64, and bristles 68 aflixed in and extending radially from said hub. Shaft 64 is rotatably driven by any suitable means, not shown but well understood in the art, whereby to turn in the direction of arrow 70 in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. l, the upper portion of the brush engages and scrubs the nap side of the rug, and the lower portion of the brush dips below the liquid level of a Waterdetergent solution contained in a reservoir 74, said liquid level being maintained in said reservoir by an overflow pipe 76. The brush therefore carries said solution from the reservoir to the rug and applies it thereto. The rug is held down against the brush by a horizontal pressure plate 78 disposed just above the rug. To provide access to the scrubber brush for servicing, said pressure plate is rendered movable by hinging its forward edge, as at 80, to a cross bar 82 extending transversely between side plates 2 and 4, the rearward edge of said pressure plate being releasably secured, as by bolts 84, to another cross bar 86 extending transversely between side plates 2 and 4.

A channel iron cross bar 88 extends transversely between and is affixed at its ends to side plates 2 and 4, in forwardly spaced relation from scrubber brush 62. A series of rods 90 are aflixed to cross bar 88 at regularly spaced apart intervals therealong, each rod having its ends atlixed to said cross bar and forming a loop disposed in a vertical plane longitudinal of the machine, said loop extending rearwardly from cross bar 88 and projecting within the periphery of the bristles 68 of the scrubber drum. Each loop includes a horizontal upper reach 92 disposed at an elevation to receive and support rug 6 thereon as said rug leaves the brush. The projection of rods into the brush provides that the leading edge of a rug is still supported by said brush as it passes above reaches 92 of the rods.

A water pipe 94 extends horizontally and transversely through the loops formed by rods 90, thus being disposed below the rug supported by said rods, and said pipe is fitted with a series of nozzles 96 adapted to direct jets of clear rinse water upwardly between said rods against the nap side of the rug. Water is supplied to pipe 94 by a pump or other suitable means, not shown but well understood in the art. These jets rinse from the rug the detergent solution applied thereto by scrubber brush 62, as well as the dirt loosened by said brush. Pressure plate 78 also prevents escape of the jets from nozzles 96 during the periods a rug may not be disposed over said nozzles.

Just forwardly of cross bar 88, the rug passes between a pair of over-and-under wringer-drive rollers 98 and 100 extending transversely between side Walls 2 and 4. It will be understood that in the same manner as rollers 42 and 44, each of rollers 98 and 100 has a compressible facing 102 of rubber or the like and is mounted coaxially on a shaft 104, that said rollers are urged resiliently toward each other, and that at least one of shafts 104 is rotatably driven whereby said rollers turn in the direction of arrows 106 in FIG. l. Furthermore, it will be understood that rollers 98-100 are synchronized with rollers 42-44 so that both pairs of rollers have the same linear peripheral speeds. Rollers 98-100 both wring from the rug the rinse water applied thereto by nozzles 96, draining it into reservoir 74, and eject the rug onto a series of exit rollers 108 corresponding to entry rollers 14, extending horizontally between and being rotatably journalled in side walls 2 and 4. In the same manner as overflow pipe 56 in reservoir 52, the use of overflow pipe 76 in reservoir 74 permits the gravity settling of dirt into the bottom of the reservoir. However, water overflowing into pipe 76 cannot be recirculafed to pipe 94 and nozzles 96, as these nozzles must eject clear, clean water at al1 times, although it could be pumped t0 and ejected from nozzles 38. Moreover, the rinse water from nozzles 96 eventually enters reservoir 74, and tends to dilute the detergent solution therein. For this reason, fresh detergent must be continually added to reservoir 74 to preserve the desired concentration of said solution.

The operation of the machine is believed to have been adequately described in connection with the description of its construction. The principal feature of novelty in its concept is believed to be that all of the elements of the device are positioned and operable to clean a rug in an inverted position, that is, with its napped side down. For this reason, all of the grit, soil and dirt loosened therefrom by the various beating scrubbing and rinsing steps of the cleaning process tends to fall away from the rug by gravity. In all previous rug cleaning machines within my knowledge, the rug is cleaned in an upright position with its napped side up, with the result that a considerable portion of the dirt actually loosened by scrubbing, etc. is not finally washed away, but is allowed to settle back into the nap by gravity. This is particularly true of the heavy soil such as sand and grit, so that while the rug may appear on casual inspection to be clean, it is nevertheless still subject to the abrasive and cutting action of the remaining grit. Another feature of the invention is the use of beater drum 22 as the initial step of the process, although this step may not be necessary in all circumstances. Its use is particularly important when the cleaning rugs having fabric backings in which dirt and grit can become so deeply embedded as not to be readily removed by scrubbing. Its use is not as essential when cleaning vinyl-backed rugs, as the dirt and grit of course do not become embedded in this material, at least not to the extent that it does in fabric backings. Also, the removal and collection of dry grit in bin 32, prior to any soaking, tends to alleviate the comparatively rapid and excessive contamination of the cleaning and rinsing solutions which otherwise would occur. Also, the pre-soaking by nozzles 38 and preliminary wringing by rollers 42-44 tends to effect a still further preliminary removal of dirt before the rug is subjected to scrubbing by brush 62, thereby reducing the abrasive effect of dirt still present in the rug during the scrubbing. The scrubbing by drum 62, rinsing by nozzles 96, and final wringing by rollers 98-100 are generally conventional, except of course that the scrubbing and rinsing are performed from beneath.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be readily apparent that many minor changes of structure and operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A rug cleaning machine comprising:

(a) a frame,

(b) means carried by said frame and operable to propel a rug through said frame in an inverted position, with its napped surface down, said propelling means including a pair of power-driven wringer rollers carried by said frame,

(c) a power-driven brush carried by said frame beneath the path of travel of the rug and operable to scrub the napped surface of said rug,

(d) a reservoir for cleaning solution carried by said frame beneath said rug, said brush being operable as it is driven to transfer solution from said reservoir to the napped surface of said rug,

(e) nozzles carried by said frame beneath the path of travel of said rug after said rug passes over said brush, and operable to direct jets of rinsing liquid upwardly against the napped surface of said rug, said rug passing between said wringer rollers after passing over said rinsing nozzles, said brush, rinsing nozzles and wringer rollers being disposed above said reservoir, and

(f) a horizontal plate carried by said frame above the path of travel of said rug and overlying said brush and said rinsing nozzles, said plate being operable to hold said rug downwardly against said brush, and to interrupt jets of rinsing solution from said nozzles when no rug is interposed therebetween.

2. A rug cleaning machine as recited in claim 1 wherein said rug is supported above said rinsing nozzles by a skeleton support member carried by said frame intermediate said nozzles and said plate, whereby, jets from said nozzles may impinge against the napped surface of said rug.

3. A rug cleaning machine comprising:

(a) a frame,

(b) means carried by said frame and operable to propel a rug through said frame, in an inverted position, with its napped surface down, said propelling means including a pair of power-driven wringer rollers carried rotatably by said frame, said rug travelling between said wringer rollers,

(c) a power-driven `brush carried by said frame beneath the path of travel of the rug and operable to scrub the napped surface of said rug,

(d) a reservoir for cleaning solution carried by said frame beneath said rug, said brush being operable as it is driven to transfer solution from said reservoir to the napped surface of said rug,

(e) nozzles carried by said frame beneath the path of travel of said rug after said rug passes over said brush, and operable to direct jets of rinsing liquid upwardly against the napped surface of said rug, and

(f) a second set of nozzles carried by said frame beneath the path of travel of said rug before said rug passes over said brush, and operable to direct jets of cleaning solution upwardly against the napped surface of said rug, said wringer rollers being disposed intermediate said second set of nozzles and said brush.

4. A rug cleaning machine as recited in claim 3 Wherein said first and second sets of wringer rollers are synchronized to rotate with the same linear peripheral speeds.

5. A rug cleaning machine as recited in claim 3 with the addition of a second reservoir carried by said frame beneath the path of travel of said rug and underlying said second set of nozzles and said second pair of wringer rollers.

6. A rug cleaning machine comprising:

(a) a frame,

(b) means carried by said frame and operable to propel a rug through said frame in an inverted position, with its napped surface down,

(c) a power-driven brush carried by said frame beneath the path of travel of the rug and operable to scrub the napped surface of said rug,

(d) a reservoir for cleaning solution carried by said frame beneath said rug, said brush being operable as it is driven to transfer solution from said reservoir to the napped surface of said rug,

(e) nozzles carried by said frame beneath the path of travel of said rug after said rug passes over said brush, and operable to direct jets of rinsing liquid upwardly against the napped surface of said rug, and

(f) a power-driven beater drum carried by said frame above the path of travel of said rug before said rug passes over said brush, said beater drum including flexible flails operable to impinge against the back surface of said rug.

7. A rug cleaning machine as recited in claim 6 with the addition of a dust bin carried by said frame below the level of the path of travel of said rug, and directly beneath said beater drum, said rug being supported beneath said beater drum by a skeleton support forming a portion of said frame.

8. A rug cleaning machine as recited in claim 3 with the addition of:

(a) a power-driven beater drum carried by said frame above the path of travel of said rug before said rug passes over said second set of nozzles, said beater drum including flexible ails operable to impinge against the back surface of said rug, said rug being supported beneath said beater drum and over said second set of nozzles by a skeleton support forming a portion of said frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 782,620 2/1905 McGrath 15-5 1,449,491 3/1923 Beekman 15-5 1,732,268 10/ 1929 Haas.

2,725,583 12/1955 Wilson et al l5-40 EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 15-40 

